Almost 40,000 people will lose their Family Allowance altogether under changes to the family suppor~rrangements announced in the 1991 Federal .Budget, according to the Member for Wide Bay, Mr Warren Truss.

Mr Truss said the decision to introduce a $600,000 assets test

for Family Allowance from January 1992 â‘ and to integrate the Family Allowance with the Family Allowance Supplement from January 1993 would result in many families, particularly farmers

Economics put the average net value of Australian farms last year at $910,000 with more than half valued at over $700,000.

"While the current economic depression will have reduced those average values somewhat, the facts remain that the assets test will disqualify many farmers from receiving Family Allowance."

Mr Truss said the Government had also indicated that it intended

to tighten the assets test arrangements and will take into account not just the assets of the parents but all irnrr\ediate family members.

"This measure is likely to have a particular impact on family partnerships in business and farming."

Mr Truss said assets testing of the Family Allowance destroyed

its original concept as a universally available support for

\ parents with children. Family Allowance succeeded the old Child

Endowment arrangements but will now degenerate into yet another welfare measure.

Mr Truss said the relaxation of the assets test would enable

some farmers who were ineligible in the past to now receive Family Allowance Supplement. However, the hardship concession would apply only from the 1 January 1992 to the 31 December 1993. In addition, new recipients of the Family Allowance

Supplement would only be eligible to receive a Health Care Card if they were eligible for the full rate FAS.

Mr Truss said'farmers who had more than $10,000 in available

funds, including working capital, would not qualify for the concession. There were very few farms that could operate in this day and age with less than $10,000 of working capital.

He said the Government had also failed in the Budget to provide

an adequate response to Opposition calls for the introduction of emergency education assistance in the form of hardship provisions in Austudy.

"The Budget provision will only apply to those alreadyâ‘ in receipt of a Government pension or benefit, or household assistance under the rural adjustment scheme.

"Sadly, this will mean many farm children will continue to be denied the opportunity for tertiary education."

Mr Truss welcomed however the decision to continue Family Allowance payments until a student left secondary school or at the end of the year in which he or she turned 18 years, which ever was the earlier.

"This will remove an anomaly particularly apparent in Queensland where some families could no longer receive Family Allowance but their children were ineligible to receive Austudy.